women-in-games
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Women are a major marketing target for Ever, Jane
Maybe you're not quite the target market for Ever, Jane. You may not like the works of Jane Austen, for example; that would be a major deterrent. But according to project head Judy L. Tyrer, one of the major areas she wants to target is the women's market, which she feels is neglected by companies as a whole. She feels that one of the major failings of game companies is failing to realize how large the game market is for women. Tyrer goes into more depth about the game's mechanics, noting that what appealed to her as a designer was the rigid stratification of social classes in Austen's work. Social movement is a major element of the gameplay, with most of players' time devoted to attending balls and gossiping about one another. No word on endgame raids against Mister Darcy or whether or not wit will be seen as an overpowered stat.
Women in Games conference canceled due to 'low delegate numbers'
The Women in Games conference won't make it to its seventh consecutive year. Organizers apologize and cite "low delegate numbers" as the reason for the cancellation. The conference would have been held March 25-26 at Bradford College, UK -- which apparently does not have a Dr. Tony Hill on staff. What? Oh, Bradfield. Develop reports conference organizers will provide full refunds and that canceling wasn't an easy decision, but necessary because attendance would have been far below the break-even requirement. No word if the conference will make another attempt in 2011 or if that's all she wrote. [Via Develop]
Love, raiding, and everything in between: how women are taking charge in WoW
A recent article in the UK Times has shed a rare, positive light of an undeniable facet of online gaming -- finding that special someone via an MMO. It also mentions the undeniable fact that when you get a bunch of socially awkward guys on Vent, then throw a girl or two in, it might lead to a few problems. So, here we have it, folks -- in this new age of gaming, more and more women are picking up the controller, or sporting a mean WASD. What do the guys think? They think it's perfectly okay. Now, I'm not writing this to be sensationalist or to seek drama. I'm a bit of a feminist myself and having been a gamer since I was nine years old; I've seen my fair share of guys who "don't think you've got it." Or just because I have two X chromosomes I somehow can't pull some sweet DPS on a random heroic 5-man. The times, they are a'changing. From the report: "A Nielsen report published in 2009 found that women aged 25 and older make up the largest block of gamers in the United States, accounting for 54.6 per cent of all game play minutes in December 2008. For WoW, the male/female ratio is fairly balanced, with 428,621 women between 25 and 54 playing in December 2008 versus 675,713 men in the same age group.Another report suggests that in Britain women make up 48 per cent of total gamers who play online once a week." It's believed that women have more fun with social gaming for the sheer fact that it's social. If you're running a 25-man, you need to be able to work together -- there's no room for ego or swinging your 'epeen' around. You need to be able to drop the macho-ism, smarten up and listen to your teammates. Women also connect in ways when things are quiet. A thriving US guild, Got Girls, has bonded over everything from child-rearing, birthdays, relationships, and everything in between. Says member ShawnAnne Dixon: "We celebrated a guild member's 21st birthday and a wedding recently. One of our members has a son getting ready to deploy to Iraq -- Got Girls has become a big part of her support system. We have truly become a family." It's not always easy being a female gamer, especially in a very male-dominated gaming culture. I have heard of much less-forgiving people and guilds who make comments regarding our monthly cycles, certain body parts, personalities and the like. I think it's great that more women are playing the game -- giving some balance to the testosterone-laden playing field. At this point, sometimes the best thing to do is to beat the guys at their own game.
Gamasutra's 20 Women in Games list
For those who complain that there aren't enough women in gaming, you need look no further than this -- the Gamasutra 20: Women in Games list. This is a compilation of the movers and shakers in the industry who just happen to be female. It's a broad spectrum list, but there are a few MMO-specifics in there -- notably Jane McGonigal, most famous for her work on the ilovebees ARG; 38 Studios' Vice President of Business Development Jennifer MacLean; Laralyn McWilliams, SOE's Lead Designer; and Disney Interactive Studios' Senior Designer Patricia Pizer.Each entry includes the subject's career overview, major accomplishments, innovations, and what her peers say about her. It's a fascinating read, and you may discover that there's more gender diversity in gaming than you previously suspected.
DS Daily: Casual games
The above is a photo from EA's Sharon Knight's opening keynote at the Women in Games conference, and it nearly comes complete with an implied question: do women love their PCs, their Wiis, their DS Lites and Phats, and their phones? Lately, the industry seems keen on making sure we know that women just love casual games, and when one combines that fact and the above slide, we can't help but wonder ... are the DS and the Wii branded with the idea that they're filled with nothing but casual games?Certainly most of us have run into that attitude among the various fanboy communities; here, especially, we're frequently hit by that particular brand of troll what seems determined to convince everyone that the PSP is the only real handheld for anyone over the age of 12, and sales figures be damned. But forget all that -- overall, do you feel that most of the games on the DS casually-oriented? It's a handheld, after all, and part of the idea of a handheld is that it is casual. But does the DS go beyond that? Should it? After all, it's not just women who are playing casual games ....
UK gaming events this summer
This summer is shaping up to be great one, at least in terms of the number of UK gaming trade shows and conferences coming up soon. The great gaming fiasco of 2004 resulted in both of the major gaming trade shows in the UK (Game Stars Live and ECTS) being canceled when they decided to take place at exactly the same time, so it's great to finally see that the industry has picked itself up.Click continue to see a round-up of some future gaming events within the United Kingdom. Joystiq's UK contingent (consisting of Jennie and I) hopes to be able to attend as many of these events as possible so if you're also planning on attending make sure to leave us a comment. If we've missed a show or conference, let us know and I'll add your tip to the table.
Girls 'n' Games event: this news is so old
While E3's keynotes were kicking off last week, several academics, developers and advocates of women in gaming gathered at UCLA to discuss girls, games and everything relating to the two. However, from Gamasutra's account of the event, nothing new was really discussed. Some of the key points brought up: Girls play games. (Well, duh.) Developers shouldn't try to focus on "girl game design" -- stereotyping game design by gender leads to missteps. Player-generated content is popular amongst girls, as is social gameplay. "Cuteness" in games, like anime and manga culture in Japan, encourages girls to get involved in gameplay. Women gamers and girl gamers are different; women and teenage girls have different demands on their time. Girls and women shouldn't just be gamers, but developers too.
Games for Women, Games by Women
The "Games for Women, Games by Women" half-day event took place last weekend in San Francisco, and Cool Hunting reports on the outcome. The event focused on the games currently played by women and those which appeal to women.The characteristics of female-friendly games include: easy to learn but hard to excel at; easy to pick up (i.e. can be played interstitially); mentally rewarding. Casual games fit all these criteria, and non-casual games are fulfilling more and more of them (for example, Animal Crossing Wild World and World of Warcraft).This is something of a generalisation--you'll find female gamers playing any game, on any platform--but it's useful to get this message across to game designers. However, similar lists of criteria for "female-friendly" gaming have surfaced after Women in Games events for at least the last year--there seems to be little novelty left in this extremely specific niche.[Via Clickable Culture]
